"Your Spiritual Pressure is so strong! Still, it's a tiny bit weaker than mine..."
Sōgo Shihoin stopped fixating on Menos Grande Bowling. Sitting in front of Lilynette, he held his thumb and forefinger up before her, as though the gap between them were only the size of a mung bean.
"You're strong. I'm no match for you."
Lilynette's words were still brief. She had yet to get used to being with a companion.
"Are you really a Hollow?"
Sōgo Shihoin asked Lilynette.
"Mm!"
Lilynette nodded lightly. She had no intention of hiding her identity as a Hollow, but after nodding, a shadow clouded her eyes. In her years of wandering, Lilynette had encountered beings called Soul Reapers, who specialized in killing Hollows, so she wondered whether the man before her would kill her. For some reason... Lilynette felt that dying like this would be fine, if only because she had already found a friend willing to talk to her.
"I'm a future Soul Reaper!"
Sōgo Shihoin introduced himself to Lilynette.
"A future Soul Reaper?"
Lilynette asked, puzzled. She did not understand what a future Soul Reaper was. Weren't all those who wore black robes and had no Hollow Holes Soul Reapers? Sōgo Shihoin's words had gone beyond her understanding.
"Being a Soul Reaper is a job. Only people who've joined the Gotei 13 are Soul Reapers, and I haven't joined! I'm unemployed!"
Sōgo Shihoin introduced himself to Lilynette. He did not know whether his words would make sense to the person before him. He was simply doing his best to express what he meant.
"I understand. You're not a Soul Reaper. You won't kill Hollows!"
Lilynette nodded lightly. She did not quite understand what Sōgo Shihoin meant, but knowing that the man before her would not kill Hollows was enough. As long as he did not kill her, they would still be friends. If he wanted to kill her, their friendship might become one-sided.
"That's more or less it! By the way, Lilynette, where did your mask go? I remember Hollows all wear masks on their faces, right?"
Sōgo Shihoin gestured at his face, then tugged at his eye patch as he asked.
"Oh! It got in the way too much, so I took it off!"
Understanding what Sōgo Shihoin meant, Lilynette nodded lightly and answered.
"You can take those things off? I thought Hollows died if they took off their masks!"
Lilynette's words left Sōgo Shihoin utterly shocked.
"It seems you can't... but it also seems you can. I don't remember very clearly."
Lilynette recalled her past, but no matter how she tried, all her memories held was her constantly talking to herself.
"Sigh... it looks like there's a problem with your understanding of things... no, with your memory!"
"How about this? Call me Teacher Shihoin, and I'll teach you everything from scratch and help you recover your old memories."
Sōgo Shihoin pointed at his own face as he spoke.
"Teacher?!"
Lilynette repeated Sōgo Shihoin's words with a blank, innocent look. She understood the word "teacher" and the word "knowledge," but putting them together left her somewhat confused. It seemed she ought to have understood, yet as she walked on alone, she had forgotten what all those words meant.
"That's right, teacher!"
"First, put some clothes on!"
As Sōgo Shihoin spoke, he pulled something resembling a wallet from his trouser pocket. It was a treasure used to store items, and also one of the Shihōin Clan's secret treasures. Sōgo Shihoin used it to carry changes of clothing.
"Here!"
Sōgo Shihoin was not quite sure whether the Lilynette before him could fit into it. Although he was considerably taller than her, Lilynette was simply too big. He did not know whether his shihakushō would be too tight.
"Put on clothes? Put on clothes!"
Lilynette nodded lightly, lifted her cloak straight up, and took the shihakushō Sōgo Shihoin handed her before starting to put it on.
"Oh... thank you."
Looking at the enormous evil before him, Sōgo Shihoin gave Lilynette a slight bow to show his respect.
Before long, Lilynette had finished dressing. Although it was a little tight across her chest, at least she had gotten it on.
"First, I need to know how much knowledge you have in your head!"
Sōgo Shihoin asked Lilynette.
"Mm..."
Lilynette simply looked at Sōgo Shihoin in silence.
"I mean, how much do you still remember?"
Sōgo Shihoin immediately understood what Lilynette meant and rephrased his question.
"I remember constantly talking to myself, talking and talking, without ever stopping."
Lilynette searched her memories. The memories in her mind were a jumble. She only remembered constantly communicating with herself, and then all kinds of memories mixed together, becoming a complete mess...
"Another child driven mad by loneliness." Having fully understood Lilynette's situation, Sōgo Shihoin nodded lightly. "I understand your problem now, so let's begin our targeted lessons! We'll start by learning to play Menos Grande Bowling!"
"Menos Grande Bowling?"
Lilynette looked at Sōgo Shihoin in confusion.
"You tie ten Gillian-class Menos Grande together with Kidō, then find one lucky Adjuchas-class Menos Grande, and then, bam! Send them all flying!"
Sōgo Shihoin smiled at Lilynette as he spoke.
"Will that help me recover my memories?"
Lilynette felt somewhat puzzled. She had the persistent feeling that the man before her had taken a fundamentally wrong direction with his teaching, or rather, his treatment.
"Of course it will!" Sōgo Shihoin said confidently. "When you're lonely and alone, with nothing to occupy you except yourself, what else can you do besides play Menos Grande Bowling? Just because you don't remember now doesn't mean you've never done it! Don't worry! Your teacher would never harm you!"
"I see! True, I don't remember my past very clearly. Maybe I really have played this game called Menos Grande Bowling before!"
After hearing Sōgo Shihoin's well-reasoned words, Lilynette nodded lightly. Indeed, not remembering now did not mean she had never done it. She was definitely going to play this game called Menos Grande Bowling, and not even Baraggan could stop her, though Baraggan had never been able to control her anyway.
"So, let's go find a ball-shaped Adjuchas first!"
"Hurry! Hurry!"
Having completely let himself loose after coming to Hueco Mundo, Sōgo Shihoin beckoned to Lilynette. His manner resembled a husky left at someone else's house, away from its owner. It was not his home anyway, so he might as well wreak havoc to his heart's content. This was Hueco Mundo, after all, and no one would suddenly jump out to rein him in. All he had to do was have fun.
"All right, all right!"
After hearing Sōgo Shihoin's words, Lilynette nodded lightly and immediately began searching for a ball-shaped Adjuchas.
(End of chapter)